


Tension Coils

by ab2fsycho



Series: Hold My Tea and Watch This [26]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: I feel like I haven't had enough tea for all the feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 04:14:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ab2fsycho/pseuds/ab2fsycho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We realize a few things about Jack's relationship with Pitch, as well as some new perspectives on his long lost daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tension Coils

“Before all this happened, a little warning may have been nice!”

“I wanted to, but—.”

“‘Oh, by the way Jack, I have a relative who might greet you with a fist bump. To your guts. With a hammer.’ You know? A warning like that.”

“I didn’t expect her to—.”

“You didn’t expect me to get hurt? Really? Have you seen—?” Jack stopped, knowing full well that he couldn’t blame Pitch for his scars or his attack. That would be wrong and unfair. He was accident-prone, but that couldn’t be helped. He could already tell Pitch was dealing with his own emotional turmoil, and Jack didn’t need to add guilt on top of it.

That didn’t mean he was any less pissed for not having been prepared for this encounter.

“Punch him in the face!” Rin suddenly chimed in as the humming in Jack’s brain returned. Jack rolled his eyes before shaking his head at the suggestion. “Come on! That was a dick move!”

“Shut up, you!” Jack demanded aloud, preparing to sit up. He gasped at the pain the action brought on.

“Would you look at that. He’s crazy like you,” a female voice sounded suddenly.

“Stay away from him,” Pitch growled to Mother Nature.

“Calm down, I’m not mad at her,” Jack whispered pointedly. Pitch’s eyes remained narrowed on his daughter, who didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by her father’s antics. It was just as well. Pitch didn’t seem to notice Jack’s tone. Jack attempted to sit up and redirect Pitch’s attention, but the bruise only made him gasp and fall back onto the Boogeyman’s lap. Though it wasn’t what Jack had intended, he achieved his goal. Pitch’s attention was on him again.

“Yeah, sorry for the blow.” Jack wasn’t entirely sure Sera was sorry for hitting him. “My temper’s atrocious. I’m sure you’ve met someone with similar anger management issues.”

“Your attitude does not come from me,” Pitch snarled.

“Are you sure?” Sera retorted, her eyes narrowing as her canines flashed.

“Okay, can we not use Jack as a reason to bicker?” Jack interjected. “I’m kind of exhausted, here.”

“Makes me wonder what else he’s been used for,” Sera muttered to herself. “A punching bag—.”

Pitch responded, “Peace treaty—.”

“Scratching post—.”

“War tool—.”

“Cut it out,” Jack remarked.

But Sera continued with, “Probably a teddy bear—.”

“Bait—.”

“Definitely a pillow—.”

“Enough, you two!” Jack exclaimed, sitting upright. He immediately regretted his actions as the bruise reminded him of the reason the Guardians had decided to postpone movement until the next day. “Jeez!” he groaned, confronted by yet another worried expression from Pitch. The Nightmare King went to lift up his hoodie again, but Jack stopped him. “It hasn’t changed! I promise. You don’t have to check it ever ten seconds.”

“You know, I just figured out what that row of shark teeth was any good for,” Sera said, gesturing to Pitch. Then she looked disgusted with herself. “Ugh, I shouldn’t have put that image in my own head. Definitely not something I wanted to think about.”

“Are you done hovering, or do you have a purpose standing over him?” Pitch snapped. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he was the one hovering over Jack, whereas Mother Nature was a good two feet away. Jack groaned. He did not need this. He did not need this at all.

“I was going to offer some remedy for possibly caving in his innards, but you look like you’ve got it,” she said sarcastically.

“You can do that?” Jack asked without hesitation. At this rate, the group wasn’t going to get anywhere. He couldn’t afford to be out of commission, and he was a little more willing to trust Sera than he’d like to admit. Plus, the pain was only adding to his frustrations with the group for having hidden what may have been some scenario changing information.

She turned back to him. “Sure, if your dog will let me.”

Pitch took offense to her terminology. “Seraphina—.”

“Sera,” she corrected.

“Hey! Chill or I’ll make you chill!” Jack interrupted again. He sighed. “Pitch, let her help.” The Nightmare King exhaled heavily, then reluctantly sat back enough to allow Mother Nature to come over and join them. She kneeled on the other side of him, reaching into one of the many pouches on her belt with one hand while bringing forward a mortar and pestle he hadn’t noticed earlier with the other. He didn’t even want to ask how much stuff she carried on her person. As she sprinkled some ingredients in the small bowl, he uttered, “And at least dogs are loyal.” Even when he was mad at Pitch, he still defended him. He could practically feel Rin getting revolted with him for not punching the Boogeyman when he said Jack should.

She stopped crushing the leaves to look at him with one eyebrow raised. “Under different circumstances, I think I might have liked you.”

Well, that was great comfort. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he stated as she resumed mixing the ingredients. Then he squinted. “Liked me how?”

“With a face like that, it’s no wonder everyone eyes you the way they do. Do you know how gorgeous you are?” Pitch actually coughed, tightening his grip on the back of Jack’s neck. Jack couldn’t hold back his blush, or his irritated gasp at Pitch’s possessiveness. Seriously, what gave him the right at this time? Jack glared into space, knowing full well that no matter how pissed he was, Pitch still saw him as belonging to him. Meanwhile, Sera saw these reactions and smirked before referring to Pitch. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see how jealous Bunny was when you demanded he hand Jack over to you.”

“Hey!” came Bunny’s petulant protest from across the way.

“That’s right. No one can tell just how soft he is under all that toughness,” she jested, her smirk growing wider as the group started to feel more and more uncomfortable. She tapped the pestle against the mortar, then glanced up at everyone. She rolled her eyes. “There I go, running my mouth again. Only this time, I actually have an audience. Now, are you going to lift up your shirt or is he going to have to do it for you?”

Jack felt Pitch bristle against him. He looked up at his Boogeyman and attempted to reassure him with a smile. However, it may have come across as a leer instead. But Pitch nodded, letting Jack raise his hoodie enough for Mother Nature to apply her ointment. He sighed, unnerved by the feel of the herbs she’d spread on his abdomen. Were they supposed to tingle? “This feels weird.”

“It should. You’ll heal in no time. Least I could do for knocking you through the air.”

“Yeah, gimme a heads-up before you do that again, please?” Jack requested.

“She might do a better job warning you than the others,” Rin grumbled. Jack ignored him.

“One can only try,” she responded, standing and turning away. Her gaze turned sullen. “We should probably rest up. We’ve got a dragon to hunt.” With that, she scaled a tree and disappeared into the canopy. Jack stared after her, finally taking a moment to let their situation sink in. Then and there, he realized just how unsure of his feelings about everything he’d learned.

Pitch had a daughter. Pitch’s daughter was Mother Nature. They borderline hated one another. Well, she hated him from what Jack could tell. She was supposed to be a Guardian, but had turned Manny down. He hadn’t thought anyone could turn down such an offer. Of course, he’d also initially refused guardianship but had eventually given in.

Of course, had he and Pitch known each other beforehand . . . .

He didn’t want to think about that again. Not with this new information coursing through his mind. Suddenly, a lot of Pitch’s bitterness and hatred for the Guardians made more sense. A wave of guilt flew through him. Honestly, if he were Pitch, he wouldn’t want to tell anyone about this sort of thing either.

“You’re supposed to be mad, remember? Punch him!” Rin encouraged.

“Shut up, Rin!” Jack snapped again. Even Pitch seemed shocked at his outbursts.

“Do it or I’ll tell Pitch your dirtiest thoughts about him!”

“You wouldn’t dare . . . .”

“Like how you have to think twice before smacking his—.”

“Rin! Cool it!”

“NO!” Just to shut him up, Jack balled his hand into a fist and slugged Pitch in the shoulder. It was so weak that Pitch hardly even looked at it. “You call that a punch?”

“Yes, now shut up and let me rest,” Jack ordered. Rin finally listened and the humming came to an end.

“Do I even want to know?” Pitch asked. 

Jack shook his head, then let his previous thoughts resume. He looked at the Guardians, then at Pitch. His chest heaved. The bruise was bothersome, but somehow the pain and aggravation were dulled by his previous realizations. Or it could be the medicine. 

Then something struck him. A memory. In Antarctica, one of the things Pitch said he’d longed for was a family. That was definitely something the Guardians had. They weren’t blood, but they had a bond. A bond that had been severed for Pitch.

Because of them. Severed because of them. At least, that’s what it sounded like. Jack still didn’t have the whole story. He did have enough, though. Enough to realize just how painful a subject this must be for Pitch. Again, guilt washed over him.

“I think I get it,” he began with a whisper. “They didn’t just take your believers away.” Pitch looked down at him, his face one of surprise. “They took your family. That’s why you took my rejection of you so hard.” Pitch was silent, but he really didn’t need to say anything. His face said it all. He looked down, almost ashamed of feeling that level of vulnerability in front of Jack. It struck Jack how little he really knew about Pitch, how sensitive he was about things like this. He was sensitive about anything regarding feelings, to be honest. But Jack knew that Pitch didn’t just up and kill for anyone. Jack meant something to Pitch. Jack only hoped that one day Pitch would trust him enough to explain all this to him. “Pitch?” Jack asked. Pitch stayed silent and wouldn’t look at him. Jack sighed, then reached up and turned Pitch’s head himself. Pitch closed his eyes momentarily before finally meeting Jack’s gaze. “Pitch, listen carefully. I may be mad at you, but . . . I still trust you. I. Trust. You. Are we clear? Now, that means you don’t have to fess up right away. Even now that I’ve been hammered in the guts by a daughter I had no idea you had, I’m still willing to trust you.” Jack sighed before continuing. “Please, have a little faith in me too?”

Pitch gave him no verbal answer. He blinked, his lips tightened, and then he released a tired sigh. Before long, he was pulling Jack closer to him, embracing him as tightly as he could without hurting him. Jack smiled slightly to himself, but realized that this really didn’t cut it for an answer. He found himself wondering if the Nightmare King trusted him at all.



“Crikee!” Bunny grumbled, his heart pounding as he slipped off the branch a little. He was not a climber. He wasn’t meant to leave the ground. This was not his place. Why was he here? Doing what he’d always done, of course. What was that, one might ask? Not what he was supposed to be doing.

He managed to climb up a little higher into the canopy before slipping and cursing again. At that, he heard a soft chuckle. “You suck.”

“Bite me, you bloody git. Not everyone’s equipped to claw their way up a damn tree,” he griped. He was thankful that Sera at least came down to his level and didn’t force him any higher. He didn’t want to think about how he was going to get down after this. “If it’s any consolation, I’m not exactly pleased to be working with your old man either.”

She snorted sarcastically. “You’re not pleased that he managed to steal your latest love interest, is what you’re really trying to say.”

Bunny’s ears flattened, his eyes narrowing on her. “‘A,’ Jack is not my new love interest. ‘B,’ I have a great deal more to hate about him than that.”

“Yeah. I know,” she whispered. She’d heard it before, how Pitch had taken everything from Bunny. He was the last of his kind because of the wars Pitch Black had waged. He’d almost succeeded in destroying Earth during the Great War. Had it not been for the Guardians, he would have succeeded.

Had Mother Nature not intervened, Pitch may have been died during the war. But Bunny had long since stopped holding that against her. How could he?

Adjusting his seat on the branch, he turned to face her. She was gazing down at the others, her facial expression sad. Bunny still wasn’t ready to look down, yet. Seeing the sadness in her eyes almost made him want to reach out to her. Instead, he addressed the subject he’d felt obligated to address and at the same time feared to. “I wanted to look for you, you know?”

She didn’t look at him. She just sighed. “It wasn’t fair. Manny should’ve known not to ask that of me. It’s almost as if he knew how Pitch would react. He thought it would push me to your side, but—.”

“If those were Manny’s intentions, then you should’ve known I wasn’t for it,” he interrupted. 

She looked up then. It struck him how different she was from the Mother Nature he once knew. She was hardened, more battle-ready than the Guardians. He’d say time out of service had affected them in the opposite way. They had softened a great deal. Sera had always been brutal, but after the Great War she’d at least been . . . Bunny didn’t know. She wasn’t happy, optimistic, or anything of the sort. She had always been saucy, and likely couldn’t have that beaten out of her. But she hadn’t been this jaded. That he knew for sure.

“Sometimes I wished people would stop believing in me,” she said. “I don’t have to go through all of what the Guardians do for them. Humans look at a tree and think of me. It’s stupid, really. I just wanted to disappear.” Her fingers tapped against the branch she was sitting on. “Then sometimes I’d just get so lonely, and I’d find myself wishing for company again.”

“You didn’t have to stay away,” Bunny said honestly. “It’s not like anyone knew about us anyway.”

A small smile crept across her lips. “I couldn’t do that to you.” She paused, as if thinking for a while. “He thought I was chummy. The only Guardian I ever spoke to for any length of time was you.”

Bunny grinned. “Even then, it was mostly kicks and punches.”

“You liked it.” They smiled at one another. Then her brow creased and she frowned again. “Why was it always easier just to talk to you?”

Bunny looked away. It was his turn to snort. “Why is it still easy?”

Sera shook her head. Neither of them knew. They sat in prolonged silence as Bunny finally got the nerve to look down at his friends. He was immediately taken aback by how high they were. Before he got sick, he looked straight ahead through the canopy. His moment of panic was interrupted by Mother Nature asking, “If you wanted to find me, why didn’t you?”

Bunny wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Because . . . ,” he stalled. He inhaled and tried again. “Because I . . . I thought you wanted to be left alone.”

She didn’t look at him. He looked up, but her expression was unreadable. She just kept staring down at the others. Then, as if to change the subject, she gestured to Jack Frost and asked, “Why him?”

“What?”

“I mean, he’s cute, but why do you like him? It’s obvious why he likes him.”

The fact that Pitch had no name or title to her bothered Bunny on some level. It made him wonder if she resented him about as much, but in a different way. That could be why she never returned. It made sense that she refused to speak to her father, but Bunny? Why had he been left behind after their friendship had been almost thoroughly established? He sighed, going along with her evasive questions. “To be honest, he’s a little shit!”

“I can tell.”

“But he made people believe in me. And he’s . . . he’s not a bad fella. He’s just . . . Jack. There’s no other way I can describe him.” Bunny’s ears twitched and he sighed. “He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he’s trustworthy. And devoted. That, I like.”

“He sounds like a ray of sunshine. And yet he’s with him,” she said aloud, referring to Pitch. Again, her refusal to name her father bothered Bunny. They were close once. Very close. So close that her friendship with Bunny was a constant torment for her. She always felt like she was betraying him somehow.

And to have him turn on her for something that wasn’t even her decision? Bunny hadn’t been there. In fact, no one but Sera and Pitch knew what happened. All he knew was that the fight must’ve been terrible.

It was then that he realized what about Sera that had put him off earlier. Before Manny had named her a candidate for guardianship, she used to have butterflies surround her hair and drink the nectar from her orchids. There were no butterflies around her now. Not a one. Seeing her without her butterflies was about as odd as seeing Tooth with her swords again.

He wondered what else she’d lost after she and her father had their falling out and left the Guardians and Manny without an answer.



Mother Nature had never known what drew the rabbit towards her. Maybe it was her disposition. Maybe it was her connections. Maybe it was strictly because the forbidden was tempting. A friendship between enemies of this nature had, indeed, been incredibly tempting. Looking at the company she had now, though, she felt incredibly lost.

Sera could practically feel the tension coiling within the group. Some did not want to be here. Some wanted answers. Some did not want to fight. Some just wanted to burn the last of their bridges and disappear. She was among the latter.

Hiding was normal for her. It wasn’t because she had adversaries, though she’d met her match once or twice millennia ago. She hadn’t spoken to any immortal for a good long while, and she’d hoped it would stay that way. At least, she thought she’d hoped. Confusion set in. Rage came with it as she stared down at the one person she’d once claimed she would risk her life for. There he was, clinging to a Guardian. He was closer to a Guardian than he was to her, now. She didn’t want to feel jealous. She didn’t want to feel anything. She didn’t want them here, and yet here was this hypocrisy staring her in the face.

If he’d caught her clinging to the rabbit in such a fashion, they’d both be dead. Her old feelings for Bunny were the last things she wanted to deal with right now, and having the rabbit right in front of her trying to tell her how he felt didn’t help. Had she missed him? Had she missed any of them? She’d be lying if she said no. She’d be lying if she said yes in some cases.

They had put her into compromising situations before. Did they realize that this one would be no different? Most likely not. They didn’t even know who they were making her face. All they knew was that he was going to consume the world with his armies if they didn’t imprison him again. It would be senseless to try to kill him. That would be as successful as trying to kill her or her . . . .

She couldn’t call him anything. He was dead to her. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to remain dead to him. Sooner or later, that new toy of his was going to realize that he would have to choose, just as she had.

And she just didn’t want to be around for another explosion.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I'm dropping the ball now that I've made it this far. So many things happened that I didn't intend. So many fucking feels. So many problems. Why are there plot twists where there weren't any before? I thought I'd planned this. Why are my best laid plans thrown offtrack by feelings? Shit's about to get real up in this mother.
> 
> Shut up Alex.
> 
> Maybe I should sleep.
> 
> Don't forget to ask me or the characters questions at twofacedpsycho.tumblr.com. Also, feel free to comment if you're not liking what I'm doing. Or if you like it. I like comments. They make me laugh maniacally, or blush sometimes. You guys know how to make my day just by being you.


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